How do I stay motivated in my studies and avoid letting negative thoughts take over? 

Thank you for your question!  

When it comes to motivation more generally, it can vary over time, be influenced by your interest and aptitude for a particular subject, and also be affected by factors such as how close you are to a deadline. Because motivation is so changeable and we can’t rely on it always being there, a good piece of advice is not to wait for motivation to appear or expect it to be present before you can take on your studies on a daily basis. Sometimes motivation appears gradually once you give yourself the chance to start reading course literature, even if you initially feel strong resistance. 

Often, subjects that feel boring or difficult become a bit more interesting as we learn more about them. Other times, you may need to “push yourself through” an entire course and try to remind yourself why you want to complete it and what reward it will bring you in the long run. A tip when your studies feel particularly challenging is to set small and clearly defined goals, such as reading for 15 minutes, writing down one new concept if you come across something unfamiliar, and then taking a 5–15 minute break. You can then repeat with more small goals for as long as you need. How small your goals should be depends entirely on what feels realistic for you to manage right now. 

Regarding your second question about how to stop your mind and negative thoughts from taking over, it sounds like your motivation and ability to focus on your studies might be hindered by thoughts that are perhaps self-critical or filled with worry about, for example, not being able to complete your studies. These kinds of thoughts can be very intrusive, and when we feel worried or uncertain, it often leads to distraction from tasks and to spending a lot of time thinking about different hypothetical scenarios, or in other ways ruminating without it leading anywhere or being particularly helpful. 

One way to try to reduce the space that such thoughts occupy during your study day is to practice becoming aware when a negative/self-critical/worrying thought appears. You can do this by trying to take a more observing stance toward what is happening in your mind and briefly noting: “Now a negative thought is coming.” After that, you need to choose to refrain from engaging further with the thought — that is, refrain from responding to what the thought suggests. One way to do this is to “postpone” dealing with the content of the thought by reminding yourself that right now it is time to read/work on study tasks, but that if the thought still feels important this evening, you can take 15 minutes to try to reach some conclusion regarding it. 

Often, there is not much to do about negative thoughts because, by their nature, they tend not to be very realistic or concrete but rather express that there are things in life that feel difficult or challenging, without us actually being able or needing to act on them in any particular way. 

Sometimes it is helpful to do a short exercise that helps you focus on something happening “outside of your head,” such as a breathing exercise or an exercise that helps you gain some distance from your thoughts by observing them rather than debating with them. There are plenty free resources to find online if you want to practice mindfulness or meditation with this purpose.  

Best regards, 

Licensed Psychologist